New to veganism or a seasoned veteran!? We're all on the lookout for an amazing vegan cheese that melts well.
A vegan cheese that we can grate on to a vegan pizza, or to make a vegan grilled cheese sandwich or to top a jacket potato with.
There are many different ways to melt vegan cheese and the ratings we use below are an overall melting rating. Some vegan cheese lovers may have melted their cheese of choice on toast using a grill whilst others may have put it in the oven on top of a meal.
There is also the affects that heating up the plant based cheeses will have on them as they are in the process of melting and their finished product. Some may bubble, others may struggle to melt and turn more in to a liquid state but the overall taste may be amazing.
These are just guides and you have the adventure of discovering your own favourite vegan cheeses that melt ahead of you and hopefully you can find some through this article or by using the biggest vegan cheese discovery app which we created and has over 450 vegan cheeses and growing.
Best Vegan Cheese For Melting in 2019
Last year we held the first ever vegan cheese awardsand in that was a category for the best vegan cheese that melts for 2019.
All of the cheeses were voted on by vegan cheese lovers like you throughout the year and through it we found out which vegan cheese melts best from all the ratings.
The overall best non-dairy cheese for melting for 2019 was the Applewood Smoky Cheese Alternative.
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The Applewood seems like an all round winner and last year received a 9.8 out of 10 rating for how well it melts. If you're looking to make vegan cheese on toast, or smother a home made pizza with cheese, this could be the best vegan cheese that melts for your next meal or snack.
"Smooth and creamy, with added B12 & Calcium. It MELTS BEAUTIFULLY so try it on your toasties, pizzas, pastas, baked potatoes or even fondue."
Their statement about the cheese on their own website mentions that itmelts beautifullyand it seems that many vegan cheese lovers in 2019 agree with this.
You may have tried this already and are looking for something different, maybe to impress friends and non-vegan relatives when you have them over for their first vegan meal.
Below we'll look at all the vegan cheeses and plant based alternatives in each specific cheese family to hopefully find you a new favourite.
2020 Best Vegan Cheese That Melts
We're well in to 2020 now and veganism is continuing to grow and so with it, new vegan cheeses are available.
Here are the current best 3 vegan cheeses for melting according to ratings throughout our vegan cheese discovery page.
Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda
With a score of 9.8 out of 10, Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda vegan cheese is one of the best vegan cheeses for melting.
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One of the highest rated vegan cheeses out of hundreds within the discovery app, this smoked gouda is perfect for a home made pizza or grilled cheese sandwich.
Just like the Applewood, this is also a smoked vegan cheese that melts well.
"Elevate your cheese party with this decadent hickory-smoked Gouda. Pair this Gouda with caramelized onions for a gourmet Panini or add it to mac n cheese for a sophisticated take on the American classic!"
On their website they state that it's great in mac n cheese, so it must melt well according to them.
This like the others have been voted on by hundreds of vegan cheese lovers just like you and comes highly recommended.
Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Flavour Vegan Cheese
With a whopping 10 out of 10, the Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Flavour is one of the best rated vegan cheeses when melting is considered. If you're looking for a stronger tasting cheddar to melt, this is for you.
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This is one of our favourites and as well as being fantastic at melting, it's also a really good vegan cheese to eat raw on crackers or even just cut straight from the block and eaten like that.
We can highly recommend this vegan cheese for your home made vegan pizzas or even to grate as an extra cheese on top of a store bought plant based pizza you may have got from your local supermarket.
Violife themselve's state that this cheese is great from the pack and "melts great!". Be sure to give it a try.
Sheese Cheddar Style with Jalapeno and Chilli Vegan Cheese
Our third and final suggestion for a vegan cheese that melts well is the Sheese Cheddar Style with Jalapeno and Chilli Vegan Cheese.
This cheese gets a 9 out of 10 rating for how well it melts.
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This is another personal favourite of ours, we love how it melts and are fond of the spicy jalapeno and chilli within. This takes vegan pizzas to another level and we highly recommend it for melting.
The great thing about Sheese is that it sells a lot of it's cheese to supermarket brands, such as Tesco and they are rebranded under their own name. So if you're looking for a supermarket vegan cheese that melts, we can highly recommend the Tesco Jalapeno and Chilli vegan cheese too.
Each of the cheeses above will be great for grilling, putting in the oven on top of a meal or making a toastie with too. We recommend cooking them not too hot and for not too long so that they don't burn.
Best Vegan Cheese Types and Families of Cheese For Melting
If you're looking for even more options, at the bottom of this guide we have included a list of the top 20 vegan cheeses which are great for melting on various meals.
But, you can also use the vegan cheese discovery app and sort the ever growing list of plant based cheese by how well they melt.
There are plenty of cheese families that melt well and you may want to try more than just cheddar alternatives. Sometimes we love mozzarella vegan cheese for melting on our pizzas and if we want a four cheese vegan pizza there are definitely four types of cheeses that will work well as toppings.
Melting Mozzarella Vegan Cheese On Pizza
Mozzarisella makes some fantastic mozarella vegan cheese alternatives an even supply some high street pizza and italian restaurants in the UK.
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MozzaRisella melts nicely on vegan cheeses, has a subtle taste and we highly recommend it if you're looking specifically for a mozzarella vegan cheese that melts.
If you have been to Zizzi in the UK, a high street chain restaurant you may have already tried it on one of their vegan pizzas.
Meals That Are Enhanced By Vegan Cheese That Melt
There are many meals that can be enhanced by melting vegan cheese on top, but some are made mostly of vegan cheese. Here are some of the most common vegan cheese based meals.
The recommendations below aren't limited to these ideas, but are just some of the most frequently eaten meals with vegan cheese melted on top. One of our old favourites at college was cheesy chips, we've not had it in years but it's something we've revisited and tried since going vegan a number of years ago.
Thats what we love about veganism, it forces you to experiment and you'll find new favourite meals.
Melting Vegan Cheese on Pizza
There are a number of approaches to making home made pizzas even better and one is finding the right vegan cheese that you love the taste of and also melts well in the oven.
You can buy a pizza base and add your own toppings, tomato sauce and vegan cheese.
You can go a step further and buy a vegan pizza already made, either from a supermarket or a local take away (without dairy cheese) and add your own cheeses on top of that.
Or, as we love to do, make your own home made pizzas and use your favourite vegan cheeses that melt, bubble and stretch over the top of your pizza. Remember to add cheese as a base and on top of your toppings for an even cheesier experience.
Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwich
A favourite for all the snackers out there an those with a decent sandwich grill. You'll have your own way to prepare your grilled cheese sandwich, some use butter, some don't and your own cheese of choice, some prefer a plain cheddar and american style cheeses whilst others might like a blue or smellier cheese.
These can also be known as a vegan cheese toastie in the UK and a favourite of ours for breakfast or supper before bed.
Just like non-vegan grilled cheese sandwiches, put ample cheese in between your bread of choice and enjoy a hot, chewy, vegan cheese sandwich!
Mac N Vegan Cheese
This meal can be made with sauces, a home made vegan cheese or shop bought from the suggestions above. When you have a decent macaroni pasta, choose a vegan cheese that melts well to combine the two ingredients for an epicly simple and cheese meal that will fool anyone.
Melting Vegan Cheese on Nachos
You can buy vegan cheese or make your own to pour on to nachos. If you melt vegan cheese, it's as simple as placing the nachos in to the oven on a low temperature of around 100-120 celcius and grating the vegan cheese as finely as you can on top and throughout so that the vegan cheese melts easily and spreads amongst the bowl of nachos.
You can also do this with bolognese dishes or nachos with soya meat and beans as a full meal.
Experimenting with some of the cheeses could get you even better results and new meals. How about trying to melt cheese in a pan on a low heat and then pouring this over your nachos.
DoesVegan Cheese Melt
A resounding yes, it sure does, not all of it, but vegan cheese does melt and melt well. Just like non-vegan cheese, there will be some that aren't created to melt, nor do it well, it's just the same.
Make sure to cook vegan cheeses on a lower heat than you would normally and keep an eye on them. They all melt at different temperatures and thicknesses. When you learn how your favourite vegan cheeses melt you can be sure to make the best possible vegan cheese meals!
When you find a cheese you love, see what it's like to melt, it might even improve the cheese, or make it worse, when you know, get back to us and leave a review commenting on your experience.
If you're looking for vegan cheeses that melt and stretch and even bubble when under the grill or in the oven you will have to do your own experiments. But there are plenty of vegan cheeses that can melt and stretch just like you're used to.
Remember, that if you grill a cheese, it may act differently if melted in the oven and is totally dependent on what cheese you're using.
